A-17 Broadsword Heavy Bomber
The A-17 Broadsword heavy bomber is a spacecraft found in the Wing Commander universe. Its first appearance was in Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi. About The A-17 Broadsword Bomber was a bomber was manufactured by Douglas Aerospace and was put into service for the Terran Confederation in the year 2635.The Confederation Handbook In Joan's Fighting Spacecraft (2664.128 update), the Broadsword is the heaviest "fighter" in service with the Confederation military and is classified as a "Heavy Bomber." Origin had designed the bomber, which masses in the area of 100 tons, has very durable armor, powerful shields, and three defensive turrets. These bombers have eight missile hard points with four stressed for anti-capital ship torpedoes. Unlike most smaller craft, the Broadsword bomber mounts a jump drive. In Wing Commander II, Christopher Blair uses this bomber several times, including long-distance assignments requiring jumps to other starsystems. In the game, the primary complaint by players regarding the Broadsword is the bombers overall relatively slow speed which causes the pilot to have to spend more time on the battlefield and is prone to attacks by the enemy. Origin had designed the bomber to have this weakness and had added three dual neutron gun turrets on the sides and rear of the bomber and three forward firing mass driver cannons mounted in the bomber's nose. The turrets equipped on the bomber can also be used as a tractor beam to haul in ejected pilots or other items such as small satellites and debris. Namesake *The A-17 Broadsword Bomber was named after the broadsword weapon. A Broadsword was a heavy sword, much like a claymore, that was used to cut or slash opponents. The A-17 Broadsword Bomber is the same in a sense, a heavy fighter used to "slash" through fighters and carriers. Wing Commander Academy The A-17 Broadsword Bomber was featured prominently in Universal Cartoon Studios's animated television series Wing Commander Academy. Like the version designed by Roberts, the Broadswords in Academy were a heavy bomber used for carrier strikes. There are several differences from the Broadswords created by Universal Cartoon Studios from the bombers created by Roberts in his games: *The Broadswords in Academy have a slight difference in design, mainly the body is much slimmer and the color is gray, rather than the Broadsword being bulky and having the standard green color used by the Terran Confederation in the game. *The Broadswords in the game were equipped with three mass driver cannons as their main guns. In Academy, the Broadswords show that they are equipped with six front energy guns: two forward plasma guns and four laser cannons.Wing Commander CIC *The Broadswords in Academy only had a single dual-mount rear particle cannon turret, while the Broadswords in the game were equipped with three dual neutron gun turrets on both sides and rear of the bomber. Trivia *The A-17 Broadsword Bomber was modeled after the B-17 Flying Fortress. Like the B-17, the A-17 Broadsword Bomber had several turrets for attack or defense. References *[http://download.wcnews.com/files/manuals/WC2%20Playguide-Manual.pdf Joan's Fighting Spacecraft (2664.128 update)] External links *Wing Commander CIC - Used as a source. *WCpedia: Broadsword heavy bomber Category:Starfighters